Re: The real problem with hate crime legislation

[Briana LeClaire <mmsmom1@yahoo.com>]

Professor Goble, the only instance I know of where Trent Lott has made
any kind of widely-heard statement about homosexuality is when he said
he thinks homosexual behavior is sinful.  Well, according to 2,000
years of Christian tradition, it is.  Is that the heated rhetoric
you're talking about?  (I can't address Pat Robertson's particular
statements about homosexuality because I don't know what they are.)

Many people think homosexual behavior is wrong for a lot of reasons. 
Their view on the subject does not make them want to do violence
against anyone.  What makes them different from the Wyoming murderers?
 I think the difference is that something other than the killers'
opinion on homosexuality made them commit the murder.

And speaking of demonizing a group and wishing to exclude them from
the body politic, I hope your heated rhetoric doesn't cause anyone to
go out and commit violence against Christians.  Or perhaps people who
do that sort of thing have something wrong with them other than whom
they can't stand.

Yours, Briana

Dale Goble <gobled@uidaho.edu> wrote:
>
> 
> 
> Briana -- Mallard Fillmore was a response to your earlier posting
which
> seemed to me to create a red herring (if not an ad hominen) rather
than
> addressing the issues.
> 
> The heated rhetoric employed by the Trent Lotts and the Pat Robertsons
> -- the claims that gays are attempting to destroy the American family,
> that they are sinners, and the like -- demonizes a group and seeks to
> exclude them from the body politic.  As such, it creates a moral
climate
> in which people who attack gays can see themselves as defending
American
> values. 
> 
> The after-the-fact hand wringing strikes me as hollow: if you direct
hate
> at something or somebody then you should not be surprised when others
> repsond with actions.
> 
> dale
> 
> 
> On Mon, 26 Oct 1998, Briana LeClaire wrote:
> 
> > Attacking the messenger and not the message, I see.  Sure, I'll take
> > Mallard Fillmore (is that who you meant?) as the cartoon
> > representative of my point of view.
> > 
> > If you want to address issues, then do so.  How would you try to
> > prevent people from killing one another?
> > 
> > Dale Goble <gobled@uidaho.edu> wrote:
> > > 
> > > Oh, sharp and cutting: Doonesbury-like.  Does that mean that your
> > > worldview is Millard Filmorish?  And does categorizing
worldviews as
> > > cartoons appreciably advance discussion of important issues?
> > > 
> > > 
> > > On Mon, 26 Oct 1998, Briana LeClaire wrote:
> > > 
> > > > Professor Goble, I realize there is probably little I can say or
> > do to
> > > > change your Doonsbury-like worldview.  However, for the
record, it
> > is
> > > > my firm belief that the vast majority of those who dislike
> > homosexual
> > > > behavior, including Trent Lott and Pat Robertson, do not hate
the
> > > > people who engage in that behavior.
> 
> 
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